Boxing, at the moment, is under the biggest threat since it became part of the Summer Olympic Games in 1904. The International Olympic Committee recently announced that a new International governing body for boxing needs to be established before they can allow the inclusion of the sport in the 2028 LA Olympics. Eminent members of the boxing community have since been rallying to find a way out of the conundrum.  So, while appearing in the EssentiallySports Exclusive Interview, Team USA Asst. Coach Christine Lopez shed light on whether she thinks boxing will be part of the Olympics in 2028. She seemed to be in agreement with former world champion, Gennady Golovkin. 

The whole issue began when the IOC barred the International Boxing Association (IBA), which had been hosting boxing in the prior Olympic games, last year because of failure to implement reforms on governance and finance. “We would love to see boxing, we want to see boxing on the program in LA. Now it is up to the boxing community to organize themselves for the sport and for the athletes,” Mark Adams, the spokesperson for the IOC, said in a press conference.

Despite that, during our conversation with Christine Lopez, the USA Boxing Asst. Coach seemed positive about boxing being part of the 2028 LA Olympics. She began by giving props to Gennady Golovkin, who last fought in the ring back in 2022 and has since taken up the role of President of Kazakhstan’s National Olympic Committee. “You know, props to ‘Triple G’. One of my favorite fighters… You know the IOC, World Boxing Committee and he, everybody is really fighting to get the Olympics in LA 2028,” Lopez told EssentiallySports. 

It’s worth mentioning that a new organization named ‘World Boxing’ was formed in 2023 and currently has 37 national federations as their signatories. It’s obviously far fewer than what the IBA had—not to forget, the IOC doesn’t recognize the organization as of now. Regardless, Lopez was optimistic about boxing seeing it through this crisis. She said, “I do believe it’s gonna happen. And I think it will be beyond.”

Her confidence in the matter comes from the fact that boxing still has enough fans worldwide that it’s in demand. “I do believe that it will happen. And it will be fabulous. I can’t wait,” she added hopefully. While Lopez is confident that boxing won’t become a thing of the past by the 2028 LA Olympics, what does ‘GGG’ have to say about it? 

Gennady Golovkin is fighting to save Olympic boxing

Gennady Golovkin is seriously worried about boxing possibly getting cut before the next Olympics. Reflecting on his own Olympic experiences and the sport’s rich history, he told The Associated Press, “It’s really upsetting… I can’t believe this might actually happen. We all need to do everything we can to prevent it.”

The IOC has even taken over boxing tournaments in Tokyo and Paris to handle things directly, pointing to ongoing issues with the IBA and how the sport is governed. Golovkin added, “If we fail to keep boxing in the Olympics, it will be a tragedy”, stressing how important the sport is for athletes everywhere and its role in encouraging inclusivity.

Now, as the head of Kazakhstan’s national Olympic committee, Golovkin is even more invested in the outcome. He suggested Kazakhstan might team up with the new ‘World Boxing’ and said, “All (nations) have to find a compromise… We need to make a certain effort to preserve boxing.” What happens next could really shape boxing’s Olympic future.

While the IOC themselves have suggested that they want to keep boxing as a part of the Olympic games, if the newly formed ‘World Boxing’ fails to gather enough members and gain recognition from the IOC, boxing might get left behind. There’s another option to form a new governing body altogether, but is four years enough for that? What do you think? Will boxing get left behind?